Abstract
Individuals with a comorbid diagnosis of Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been found to exhibit greater deficits in expressive communication than individuals with DS only. We hypothesized that individuals with a comorbid diagnosis (n = 430) would have significantly lower Communication Matrix scores and specifically social communication scores than individuals with DS alone (n = 4,352). In a sample of 4,782 individuals with DS, scores for individuals with a comorbid diagnosis were on average 18.01 points and 7.26 points lower for total score and social score respectively as compared to individuals with DS. Comorbid diagnosis accounted for 10.5% of the variance in communication scores. Between-group differences in referential gestures and symbolic communication behaviors were also observed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 97-113 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities |
Volume | 126 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2021 |
Keywords
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Communication
- Down syndrome
- Intellectual disability
- Language
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Clinical Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health